Many PECO customers remain in the dark

Going into the fifth day without power, PECO says it could be early this week until some are restored

A crewman with Ohio Edison replaces a storm damaged pole on a line along Powder Mill Road on Friday. Five days after the ice storm, many York County residents remain without power. (Jason Plotkin — Daily Record/Sunday News)

With no heat and no power, the residence is just too cold for the 68-year-old.

If he's not seated at the lunch counter of the Delta Family Restaurant, Barnhart is likely reclining in the front seat of his truck with heat pouring from the vents.

"I've been sleeping in my car to stay warm," he said. "I go inside to use the bathroom, but that's it."

Barnhart is one of more than 3,000 PECO customers who lost power last week after damaging winter storms took down trees and power lines.

By Saturday afternoon, 2,575 of PECO's 4,300 customers remained in the dark, according to the company's website.

"PECO has told my neighbors that the power would be back on by 11:30 p.m. Friday," Barnhart said. "But, that didn't happen. I've had to buy extra gas. I've had to empty the refrigerator. I've been eating all my meals at the restaurant. I've spent $150."

Greg Smore,a PECO spokesman, said power will be restored to many customers throughout the company's entire service area over the course of the weekend.

However, customers in the most heavily damaged areas will be without service into early this week, he said.

"There are many places that were so severely damaged that portions of a system will need to be rebuilt," Smore said. "Anytime that ice is in the forecast, it gets a utility's attention. We are working to restore service as quickly and safely as possible."

A crewman with Ohio Edison works on a line along Powder Mill Road on Friday. For many, power was expected to be restored this weekend, but for some PECO customers it could be a few days more. (Jason Plotkin — Daily Record/Sunday News)

Howard Waddell, who has been without power since Tuesday, said he's not seen one utility truck in his area.

"It's like we don't exist," he said. "I have a wood stove. I've been using that to keep warm and to melt snow so that I have water to flush the commode.

Like Barnhart, Norman Jones of Peach Bottom Township has also lost money to the outage.

Between extra gas and two days of work lost clearing his yard of storm debris and working on the generator, Jones said he estimates that he spent an additional $800 that will be tough to get back.

Aside from the lost income, the 43-year-old man said he's slept only 12 hours since Wednesday, the day his home lost power.

An abandoned shopping cart is fringed with icicles at the Giant in Springettsbury Township early Wednesday after the ice storm. The store was open but the parking lot mostly empty. (Paul Kuehnel — Daily Record/Sunday News)

"I work all day long, come home and sleep for a few hours and stay up all night watching the generator," Jones said. "I need to make sure it's running properly."

Chris Eck, Met-Ed spokesman, and Duane Kanagy, manager of communications for Adams Electric Cooperative Inc., said York County was hit hardest by the ice storm that went through the area on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"York County was really ground zero for this storm," Eck said.

Met-Ed was reporting 10,352 customers without power Saturday afternoon.

Eck said 99 percent of Met-Ed customers would have their power restored by midnight Saturday, and the remainder would get their power back by midnight tonight. Kanagy said Adams Electric Cooperative Inc., customers should have all been restored Saturday night.

The two said Met-Ed and Adams Electric Cooperative Inc., allocate resources where they can restore to the most customers at a time. That said, if your entire neighborhood gets power restored, but your house is still in the dark, you need to call your electric supplier and report the outage, they said. It's possible there is a problem with the individual line that runs to your house.

Both men said the ice from last week's storm is what caused all the power problems.

About a half an inch of ice fell on areas of York and Adams counties, according to the National Weather Service.

Staff writer Brandie Kessler contributed to this report.

Fissels Church Road in Codorus Township was one of the many York County roads closed due to downed trees and power lines. (Paul Kuehnel — Daily Record/Sunday News)

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